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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To find this odd?

27 replies

InThePurpleHaze · 09/06/2022 18:43

That a grown woman is unable to-

  1. Attach a tray to a highchair
  2. Open a child safety gate

Lady at work (nursery supply) highly qualified in childcare, but couldn't do that?!

OP posts:
ForestFae · 09/06/2022 18:44

Maybe she’s dyspraxic. Maybe she has Ehlers Danlos and it affects her hands badly. Maybe she has any other sort of disability that affects her hands.

lancsgirl85 · 09/06/2022 18:45

Depends. Did she learn those things as part of her qualifications?

Featuredcreature · 09/06/2022 19:07

Meh. Some times things are fiddly, is it really such a big deal to you? Seems petty to make a thread unless drip feed.

Moosake · 09/06/2022 19:20

I can only open some child gates. Some are too fiddly.

Soubriquet · 09/06/2022 19:21

I can’t open those child proof washing containers of pods

And?

Sometimes, people just can’t do something

FlissyPaps · 09/06/2022 19:21

Do you have concerns over this staff member and her ability to supervise your DC?

easyday · 09/06/2022 19:24

As it is presumably part of her day to day job yes it is surprising. It's not something you get trained in, but surely she has to do it repeatedly?

Lolly1987 · 09/06/2022 19:25

Depends, some baby gates are tricky to open and have a certain knack to them and if she hasn't come across that particular one before, she wouldn't automatically know how to open it.

RenegadeMatron · 09/06/2022 19:25

Are these items in your house that she is encountering for the first time?

Or are they items at the daycare where she works and encounters them every day?

If the latter, then yes, I agree - odd.

If the former, then not necessarily odd, in the slightest. High-chairs and gates all have different mechanisms, and she could easily not have been familiar with them.

What’s the point of your thread?

Oldfilmsareshit · 09/06/2022 19:25

Who cares?

aSofaNearYou · 09/06/2022 19:26

Some people struggle with fiddly things. The "grown woman" talk is unpleasant.

Moosake · 09/06/2022 19:28

I can't open a lot of jars I still have them in my house.

Beees · 09/06/2022 19:28

Soubriquet · 09/06/2022 19:21

I can’t open those child proof washing containers of pods

And?

Sometimes, people just can’t do something

Am so pleased to read this. My 2 year old can open them but myself as a competent adult in every other manner cannot.

I can totally understand someone struggling with a stair gate or a highchair tray. Nothing odd about it.

Soubriquet · 09/06/2022 19:31

Yeah I have to get my 9 year old to open mine.

She just laughs at me but I really can’t do it

NohoHank · 09/06/2022 19:32

Starting this thread to is more odd than the inability to do the fiddly things you've listed.

Moosake · 09/06/2022 19:33

I don't think they test it in the exams

Findahouse21 · 09/06/2022 19:34

Also, you said supply - I can open my own baby gate without looking but still struggle with a friend's. Same as higb chairs. If they were models that she isn't used to then I wouldn't be surprised at all.

OldWivesTale · 09/06/2022 19:40

If she's supply staff and not familiar with your equipment then no, not unusual at all, no matter how well qualified she is.

MrsEthelMorningtonCrescent · 09/06/2022 19:47

Maybe she’s dyspraxic. Maybe she has Ehlers Danlos and it affects her hands badly. Maybe she has any other sort of disability that affects her hands.

If she's responsible for actually looking after very small children, then she does need to be physically and mentally fit enough to look after those children, Reasonable Adjustments notwithstanding. If she's working there doing something else then this could be the case.

However, it might be that she's like me, just not very good at working out how each different mechanism works, the first time. I am terrible with unfamiliar coffee and vending machines, for example. It's fine once I know. See how she goes in general, unless she's only there for one day, and report to management if there seems to be a bigger problem. (Apologies if OP didn't say the employee is a she, have picked that up from the comment quoted.)

qpmz · 09/06/2022 19:51

It's like a pram. I can just about fold up mine but would need a few tries on another one before I can do it.

ForestFae · 09/06/2022 19:54

MrsEthelMorningtonCrescent · 09/06/2022 19:47

Maybe she’s dyspraxic. Maybe she has Ehlers Danlos and it affects her hands badly. Maybe she has any other sort of disability that affects her hands.

If she's responsible for actually looking after very small children, then she does need to be physically and mentally fit enough to look after those children, Reasonable Adjustments notwithstanding. If she's working there doing something else then this could be the case.

However, it might be that she's like me, just not very good at working out how each different mechanism works, the first time. I am terrible with unfamiliar coffee and vending machines, for example. It's fine once I know. See how she goes in general, unless she's only there for one day, and report to management if there seems to be a bigger problem. (Apologies if OP didn't say the employee is a she, have picked that up from the comment quoted.)

Disabled people are still capable of looking after kids, I have both dyspraxia and EDS and I find those catches on gates fiddly but I wouldn’t think that makes me incapable, nor this lady if that’s what the issue is (of course I don’t know if it is, I was just saying why someone might struggle with fiddly catches)

itsgettingweird · 09/06/2022 19:59

Doesn't know how or couldn't?

I have very loose wrists and would struggle with those tasks - but I know how to do them!

TaranThePigKeeper · 09/06/2022 20:00

I have trouble folding my ironing board, but I’m educated to postgraduate level and I have a job carrying out a statutory function on behalf of government.

cravingmilkshake · 09/06/2022 20:05

I have three children and went to a friends house the other day and couldn't for the life of me work out her stair gate.

Stop being mean and judging and offer to help!

Nein9 · 09/06/2022 20:16

I have a PhD and used to be the head of a faculty which incudes teacher training (early years practitioners and teachers), having since moved up. I struggled with one of my kids' stair gates and used to climb over it until I finally got the hang of it. My toddler figured it out quicker than I did.